Perched in the cultural district of Mid City Baton Rouge stands a renovated Esso station, transformed into an art gallery called “Rue Cou Cou,” offering collectors not only a delightful shopping experience ,but a variety of pieces in multiple genres as well.
Walking in the gallery, visitors are immediately exposed to various art platforms including sculpture and stained glass work while smooth jazz hums through the rustic-urban yet colorful space.
Though, in the ’20s, the former establishment provided gas to Baton Rouge travelers, the building now pumps out high-caliber, Louisiana-inspired art pieces by prominent and emerging artists from the Capital City.
Rue Cou Cou was originally located on Bienville Street in 1998, but in 2009, local art enthusiast and graphic designer Laurel Doucet purchased the establishment with her husband at its current location near Circa 1857 on Government Street.
“Like all artists, you grow up doing something creative, whether it’s drawing or painting or whatever,” Doucet said. “Of course, you come to [the] realization that the chances of making a living are slim.”
For Doucet, this realization guided her into making the decision to become a graphic designer, including an earlier job at Tiger Rag magazine.
Dabbling in various forms of art including photography and water color painting, Doucet said she always gravitated toward any form of art.
When Doucet’s husband started a fine art reproduction business called Renaissance Imaging, she was exposed to local artists from around the city and the state. She said opening a gallery just seemed to be “the next logical step.”
According to Doucet, the name Rue Cou Cou was born when the original owners told their friends they wanted to start an art gallery in their custom framing shop and call it Rue Bienville, but the friends promptly called them “cuckoo” for concocting such a crazy idea. Thus, the French spelling of the word was adopted, and the gallery was born.
Almost 20 years later, Doucet evaluates new artists’ pieces to determine whether or not their work will mesh with the artistic flow of the gallery to maintain a common theme throughout Rue Cou Cou.
“The artists have to have a unique style, and be slightly different from the other artists in the gallery,” Doucet said.
However, all of the artists featured in the gallery are Louisiana artists and most of them revolve their work around Louisiana culture.
Business savviness is also an important quality when finding a new artist to display in the gallery because Rue Cou Cou splits the commission for each consigned piece.
The artists featured in the gallery include Amy Anderson, R.C. Davis, Meichi Lee, Keith Morris and many more. Additionally, the gallery is the exclusive dealer of William Hemmerling.
Rue Cou Cou is the only gallery in Baton Rouge to carry the original works of James Michalopoulos, a New Orleans- based artist who has been commissioned multiple times to create the official Jazz and Heritage Festival poster.
It’s clear Doucet knows the context and meaning behind almost every piece in her gallery as she can describe each in detail. While Rue Cou Cou visitors browse casually throughout the space, they can find a guide in the knowledgable store owner.
Most of the pieces in the gallery space are clearly inspired by Louisiana, highlighting everything from majestic bayou pelicans to the lively streets of New Orleans.
Mickey Asche, for example, started painting shortly after Hurricane Katrina and has a kayak he keeps in the back of his van, stopping to take photos of an interesting waterfront spot or subject as reference material for his paintings of Louisiana birdlife.
Information about the artists and photos of their pieces can be found at the gallery’s website RueCouCou.com along with any event information or newly added pieces. The gallery services allow buyers to take a piece home and see how it fits in their space before making the final purchase decision.
Whether through various events or casual shopping, Doucet said visitors of Rue Cou Cou will be most impressed with the collection of artists and their work because of the art’s high quality.
“People come in here and are in awe of the caliber of artwork in the gallery,” Doucet said. “I’m in awe myself.”
You can reach Michael Tarver on Twitter @michael_T16.

Gallery • 16 Photos

Charles Champagne

Artworks by Amy Anderson hang on display Friday March 20, 2015 inside Rue Cou Cou art gallery and frameshop located midcity on Government Street.